Agencies issue guidance on exploitation of Cisco systems by cyber actors 

U.S. and international agencies Feb. 25 released guidance on protecting Cisco Software-defined Wide-area Networking systems from exploitation by malicious cyber actors. The agencies said attackers have been observed exploiting an authentication bypass vulnerability to target and compromise Cisco SD-WAN systems of different organizations globally. The guidance provides recommendations for users to help prevent system attacks. 

“This critical vulnerability, a 10 out of 10, is actively being exploited by sophisticated adversaries to gain long-term access to networks,” said John Riggi, AHA national advisor for cybersecurity and risk. “The mandatory mitigation requirements of this advisory apply only to federal civilian executive branch agencies. However, it would be prudent for all organizations, including health care-related entities, to voluntarily adhere to the recommendations as well.” 

For more information on this or other cyber and risk issues, contact Riggi at jriggi@aha.org. For the latest cyber and risk resources and threat intelligence, visit aha.org/cybersecurity.